Past Month: Foodtech Winners (STKH) and Losers (BYND)
Foodtech is a dynamic investment space that has seen its fair share of ups and downs in recent years. Whereas the sector was red-hot in 2021, valuations came crashing back to earth over the course of 2022. As the dust settles, the field remains a promising area of investment of institutional and retail actors alike. Two primary areas of innovation in the field are plant-based and cultured meat/cellular agriculture, both of which are different approaches to alternative proteins. With a growing global population and an increased emphasis on sustainable resource and land use, both areas can expect booming demand over coming years and decades.
I've been watching and investing in a number of foodtech companies in recent years and wanted to do a monthly recap regarding the performance of some of my portfolio companies. Using QQQ (NASDAQ) as a baseline, the market is up roughly 2.5% whereas the KROP ag/foodTech ETF is 6% in the red, signaling a bearish outlook for foodtech as a whole. This is matched by per-company performance; in terms of cultured meat players, Cult Food Science (CSE: CULT) is down -5.6%, whereas, London's Agronomics (ANIC.L) broke green at 2.12% and therefore closely mirrors the performance of NASDAQ, our baseline measure.
For plant based companies, the outlook is grim. Two of the darlings of the 2021 foodtech bubble, Beyond Meat (BYND) and Oatley (OTLY), are down by the double digits, i.e. -24.5% and -11.3%, respectively. At this point I've sold most of my plant based shares, and made some nice plays on the way down. These two stocks are a cautionary tale of how consumer hype and sky-high valuations can come crashing back down to earth.
The real outlier here is Steakholder Foods (NASDAQ: STKH), an Israel-based cultured meat disruptor that has posted nearly 17% gains in share price over the course of the past 30 days. They've had a raft of positive news flow that has propelled these gains, including:
-A high profile visit by Israeli PM and government officials where the company was able to exhibit its fast-growing tech portfolio to VIP public sector actors.
-Significant forward progress on its 3D bio-printing platform for the creation of structured (cultured) fish, in collaboration with Umami Meats. Previously, Steakholder Foods and Umami Meats announced a strategic collaboration agreement for the development of cultivated aquaculture products, which already seems to be bearing fruit.
-Restructuring of internal departments for increased efficiency and a focus on accelerated commercialization.
Given this impressive run down of catalysts it comes as no surprise that STKH has outpaced its peers in the foodtech space. Its an ever-changing industry, so stay tuned for more updates as to the winners of losers in the future of food!
I've been watching and investing in a number of foodtech companies in recent years and wanted to do a monthly recap regarding the performance of some of my portfolio companies. Using QQQ (NASDAQ) as a baseline, the market is up roughly 2.5% whereas the KROP ag/foodTech ETF is 6% in the red, signaling a bearish outlook for foodtech as a whole. This is matched by per-company performance; in terms of cultured meat players, Cult Food Science (CSE: CULT) is down -5.6%, whereas, London's Agronomics (ANIC.L) broke green at 2.12% and therefore closely mirrors the performance of NASDAQ, our baseline measure.
For plant based companies, the outlook is grim. Two of the darlings of the 2021 foodtech bubble, Beyond Meat (BYND) and Oatley (OTLY), are down by the double digits, i.e. -24.5% and -11.3%, respectively. At this point I've sold most of my plant based shares, and made some nice plays on the way down. These two stocks are a cautionary tale of how consumer hype and sky-high valuations can come crashing back down to earth.
The real outlier here is Steakholder Foods (NASDAQ: STKH), an Israel-based cultured meat disruptor that has posted nearly 17% gains in share price over the course of the past 30 days. They've had a raft of positive news flow that has propelled these gains, including:
-A high profile visit by Israeli PM and government officials where the company was able to exhibit its fast-growing tech portfolio to VIP public sector actors.
-Significant forward progress on its 3D bio-printing platform for the creation of structured (cultured) fish, in collaboration with Umami Meats. Previously, Steakholder Foods and Umami Meats announced a strategic collaboration agreement for the development of cultivated aquaculture products, which already seems to be bearing fruit.
-Restructuring of internal departments for increased efficiency and a focus on accelerated commercialization.
Given this impressive run down of catalysts it comes as no surprise that STKH has outpaced its peers in the foodtech space. Its an ever-changing industry, so stay tuned for more updates as to the winners of losers in the future of food!
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